Archives

Admin

Posts Tagged ‘Music’

Quakers have had an uneasy relationship with music since the late 17th century.

Although singing was recognized as an authentic expression of the connection with Spirit, too much music could become amusement and a diversion. Popular culture played with this dichotomy as demonstrated by this sheet music cover of 1919. Special Collections’ online exhibit ‘Sing ye in the spirit’ : Music & Quakerism in Harmony will show you more on the subject.

Some of the newest notes among Friends are being sung by Jon Watts who blends spirituality, Quaker history and rap. Listen to him and watch to see if your shoulders don’t begin to shake, too!

We often enjoy viewing and appreciating rare books for their beauty as works of art. Scholars, also however, appreciate access to rare information that is found within.

A recent example involves a rare book written in the Bantu – Luyia language of Kenya – Tsinyimbu tsyokwidzominya nyasaye. This is the only copy recorded in WorldCat. Quaker missionaries translated Western church hymns into the native language. This 1920 publication is rough looking and was well used. The paper is poor and brittle. It may not be beautiful but an ethnomusicologist at the University of Georgia who, interested in the musical impact of Quakers in Kenya, was excited to learn of Haverford’s copy.

Distance collaborative research into this text was made possible through email and with digital images. The music professor was able to enrich her understanding of this obscure topic and the shared information helps Special Collections to value this modest resource even more.